Allard’s post war design sprint
The K1 was Allard’s first post-war car and was largely a carryover from their earlier limited production models
AS Britain was recovering from the battering of the Second World War car manufacturers were on the grid for a Le Mans start to grasp the new business opportunities that were on the horizon.
And the race to woo the British car buying public with exciting new designs was taken very seriously by performance car manufacturers who had their designers burning the midnight oil to gain a lead on the opposition.
One manufacturer which quickly turned out some stunning and very fast saloons and sports cars was Allard, a company founded by Sydney Allard in 1936 and based in Putney and then Clapham in London.
Allards were usually powered by a large American V8 engine and featured mainly lightweight bodies to give a very favourable power to weight ratio.
The company’s products foreshadowed the more famous AC Cobra.
From a pre- war start with some very capable trials cars the brand started to develop but the outbreak of war put the brakes on car development and the company switched to building Ford-based trucks
But after the cessation of hostilities it was all go again and Allard turned out some wonderful cars including the L of 1946-49 which used a number of Ford parts to ease development costs.
Then there was the wonderful J competition sports car and the equally attractive K2 a slightly larger car for road use which was a star of the roads in the early 1950s.
Sales were encouraging for a low-volume car and Allard embarked on some larger cars such as the M model.
Allard then saw the potential of US sales and – a market somewhat lacking in sports cars. Allards were then available with a choice of American engines including the new Cadillac V8 which was much more powerful than the Ford units used before.
They proved to be extremely popular and were used to great effect in competition on both sides of the Atlantic, including a third place at Le Mans in 1950 and first place in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1952.
But there were some oddities produced by the company. One was the 1953 Clipper, a true microcar with a fibreglass body and powered by a rear-mounted 346cc Villiers twin- cylinder motorcycle engine. The company turned out about 20 of them
But after its fast post- war sprint, Allard started to run out of steam and other manufacturers started to produce cheaper and more advanced cars.
Its K3 model was beautiful to look at but did not live up to expectations. And even the stupendous P2 Safari, a massive ‘ woodie’ estate car with eight seats, a huge V8 engine and beautiful bodywork failed to hit the spot.
By the late fifties Allard was in difficulties and produced few cars after 1959. It all came to a stop in 1966 when Sydney Allard died.
The Allard name was bought by a new company in 1991 but production never started. In 1994 a new version of the J2 were made by Allard Replicas in either kit or assembled versions with full agreement with the trademark holders. Production ceased in 1997.
There is now nothing left of the Allard factory and housing now stands on the ground where some of Britain’s most inspirational sports cars were produced.
But it is named Allard Gardens and now and again Allard drivers take their cars to the site for a nostalgic reunion.